![]() ![]() In an early, dazzling sequence that had viewers squealing in delight at my screening, Arrietty and her father embark on her very first “borrowing” mission - an arduous rite of passage that involves an expedition to the kitchen’s sugar bowl. And yet Miyazaki’s team of animators have succeeded in converting such familiar amenities as a storm drain, a kitchen, a curtain or a front stoop into towering, wondrous obstacles that Arrietty must confront and overcome. In stark contrast to the typical sprawling Studio Ghibli storyline, there’s something surprising about Arrietty’s confined existence, which plays out entirely within a house and its front yard. ![]() (MORE: See what Studio Ghibli projects made the list of the 25 All-TIME Best Animated Films) But the odds are against her, for when you’re a Borrower, and any step out into the yard could involve death at the claws of a cat, in the mouth of a bird or on the shoe of a human, one tends to remain at home. Preparing for dinner one evening, mother sighs and wonders aloud whether she’ll ever see the sea in her lifetime. She lives inside the floorboards beneath a wardrobe in a rural Japanese home with her tiny mother (Amy Poehler) and father (Will Arnett) – earnest, modest parents who crave nothing more than safety, a spot of tea and a glance out the family’s faux underground window at an illustrated seascape that points to a more promising horizon. Her name is Arrietty (voiced by Bridgit Mendler) and like all young Miyazaki adventurers, she’s a teenager wise beyond her years. The intrigue in Secret World comes from witnessing a brave member of the youngest generation reject the conventional thinking of her elders. These are undoubtedly rules with a dark history, indicators of past disasters, created to ensure survival. Sustaining themselves by “borrowing” necessary goods from humans, these tiny lodgers have designed a strict set of rules to govern their interaction with taller species: Only borrow what you need, what will not be missed, and avoid detection at all costs. The newest Studio Ghibli vision – directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, conceptualized by Miyazaki (who wrote the screenplay) and translated into English by both Disney and an array of prominent western actors – is The Secret World of Arrietty, a heartwarming adaptation of the beloved Borrowers novels by Mary Norton, which bring to life a hidden world of tiny creatures who take refuge in the walls and nooks of people’s homes. There are exceptions of course (chiefly the works of Pixar) but unlike the majority of American animated films, which set out with punch lines and merchandising in mind, Ghibli’s visions skew more ambitious - stories of self-discovery, of souls at crossroads. Studio Ghibli visions tend to be quieter and far more evocative than their American counterparts. For decades now, Hayao Miyazaki and his collaborators have taken traditional coming-of-age fables and elevated them into magical meditations on topics as vast as the sacredness of the environment, the mystical charms of animals, the paramount importance of family and the ugly temptations of greed. ![]() Follow soar through an animated universe fashioned by Studio Ghibli is to be enchanted.
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